New Bugs, Fish, Sea Creatures In May For Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Northern & Southern Hemisphere)

3 months ago

May has arrived with fresh new bugs, fish, and sea creatures to enjoy in Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH)! In this guide, we’ll tell you every new critter joining your island in May.

Each and every month in Animal Crossing: New Horizons brings a different set of fish or bug creatures that can appear on your Animal Crossing island depending on the current month from the real-time clock.

That means you can potentially discover some new fish, bugs, and sea creatures on your island to catch when May begins that weren’t previously available to catch during April! This guide is applicable for all years, including 2023.

So if you want to catch every single creature to complete your NookPhone’s Critterpedia for getting golden tool items and donate every critter to the Museum, it’s important to know which critters have arrived this month and make sure you catch them as soon as you can to get an early start.

This guide covers both the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere islands — you’ll find the Southern information below the Northern sections.

Note that creatures are the same between 2020 – 2023, so you will see similar critters if you have played for a long time. This guide is written inclusive of no matter when someone may have started playing or taken a break, so repeats will show up sometimes!

New Animal Crossing: New Horizons Bugs In May (Northern Hemisphere)

There are 8 new Bugs available to catch with a Net during May on your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island!

Great Purple Emperor

Hours

4AM to 7PM

Location

Flying (Flowers)

Rarity

Rare

Sell Price

3000 Bells

Queen Alexandra'S Birdwing

Hours

8AM to 4PM

Location

Flying (Flowers)

Rarity

Rare

Sell Price

4000 Bells

Banded Dragonfly

Hours

8AM to 5PM

Location

Flying (Water)

Rarity

Rare

Sell Price

4500 Bells

Pondskater

Hours

8AM to 7PM

Location

Rivers & Ponds

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

130 Bells

Diving Beetle

Hours

8AM to 7PM

Location

Rivers & Ponds

Rarity

Uncommon

Sell Price

800 Bells

Violin Beetle

Hours

All Day

Location

Tree Stumps

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

450 Bells

Rosalia Batesi Beetle

Hours

All Day

Location

Tree Stumps

Rarity

Very Rare

Sell Price

3000 Bells

Scorpion

Hours

7PM to 4AM

Location

Ground

Rarity

Very Rare

Sell Price

8000 Bells

New Animal Crossing: New Horizons Fish In May (Northern Hemisphere)

There are 8 new Fish available to catch with a Fishing Rod during May on your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island!

Frog

Hours

All Day

Location

Pond

Shadow Size

Small

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

120 Bells

Catfish

Hours

4PM to 9AM

Location

Pond

Shadow Size

Large

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

800 Bells

Nibble Fish

Hours

9AM to 4PM

Location

River

Shadow Size

Very Small

Rarity

Rare

Sell Price

1500 Bells

Angelfish

Hours

4PM to 9AM

Location

River

Shadow Size

Small

Rarity

Uncommon

Sell Price

3000 Bells

Betta

Hours

9AM to 4PM

Location

River

Shadow Size

Small

Rarity

Rare

Sell Price

2500 Bells

Rainbowfish

Hours

9AM to 4PM

Location

River

Shadow Size

Very Small

Rarity

Rare

Sell Price

800 Bells

Giant Trevally

Hours

All Day

Location

Pier

Shadow Size

Extra Large

Rarity

Very Rare

Sell Price

4500 Bells

Mahi-Mahi

Hours

All Day

Location

Pier

Shadow Size

Extra Large

Rarity

Very Rare

Sell Price

6000 Bells

New Animal Crossing: New Horizons Sea Creatures In May (Northern Hemisphere)

There are 2 new Sea Creatures available to catch with a Wet Suit during May on your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island!

Sea Urchin

Hours

All Day

Shadow Size

Small

Speed

Slow

Rarity

Uncommon

Sell Price

1700 Bells

Slate Pencil Urchin

Hours

4PM to 9AM

Shadow Size

Medium

Speed

Medium

Rarity

Uncommon

Sell Price

2000 Bells

Gigas Giant Clam

Hours

All Day

Shadow Size

X-Large

Speed

X-Fast

Rarity

Super Rare

Sell Price

15000 Bells

Vampire Squid

Hours

4PM to 9AM

Shadow Size

Medium

Speed

X-Fast

Rarity

Super Rare

Sell Price

10000 Bells

Spotted Garden Eel

Hours

4AM to 9PM

Shadow Size

Small

Speed

Slow

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

1100 Bells

New Animal Crossing: New Horizons Bugs In May (Southern Hemisphere)

There are x new Bugs available to catch with a Net during May on your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island!

Please note that the list below only applies to the Southern Hemisphere — scroll up to see the Northern Hemisphere lists.

Damselfly

Hours

All Day

Location

Flying (Water)

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

500 Bells

Mole Cricket

Hours

All Day

Location

Underground

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

500 Bells

Tarantula

Hours

7PM to 4AM

Location

Ground

Rarity

Very Rare

Sell Price

8000 Bells

New Animal Crossing: New Horizons Fish In May (Southern Hemisphere)

There are x new Fish available to catch with a Fishing Rod during May on your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island!

Please note that the list below only applies to the Southern Hemisphere — scroll up to see the Northern Hemisphere lists.

Bitterling

Hours

All Day

Location

River

Shadow Size

Very Small

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

900 Bells

Blowfish

Hours

9PM to 4AM

Location

Ocean

Shadow Size

Medium

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

5000 Bells

Tuna

Hours

All Day

Location

Pier

Shadow Size

Super Large

Rarity

Rare

Sell Price

7000 Bells

Blue Marlin

Hours

All Day

Location

Pier

Shadow Size

Super Large

Rarity

Rare

Sell Price

10000 Bells

Football Fish

Hours

4PM to 9AM

Location

Ocean

Shadow Size

Large

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

2500 Bells

New Animal Crossing: New Horizons Sea Creatures In May (Southern Hemisphere)

There are x new Sea Creatures available to catch with a Wet Suit during May on your Animal Crossing: New Horizons island!

Please note that the list below only applies to the Southern Hemisphere — scroll up to see the Northern Hemisphere lists.

Sea Cucumber

Hours

All Day

Shadow Size

Medium

Speed

X-Slow

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

500 Bells

Sea Pig

Hours

4PM to 9AM

Shadow Size

Small

Speed

X-Fast

Rarity

Super Rare

Sell Price

10000 Bells

Dungeness Crab

Hours

All Day

Shadow Size

Medium

Speed

Medium

Rarity

Common

Sell Price

1900 Bells

Snow Crab

Hours

All Day

Shadow Size

Large

Speed

Fast

Rarity

Rare

Sell Price

6000 Bells

Red King Crab

Hours

All Day

Shadow Size

Large

Speed

X-Fast

Rarity

Rare

Sell Price

8000 Bells

Best Way To Catch Fish At Pier On Beach

It’s worth noting that four of the new fish arriving this month can only be found when fishing near the Pier on your beach! In the Northern Hemisphere, that’s the Giant Trevally and Mahi-Mahi. For the Southern Hemisphere, the Blue Marlin and Tuna are new.

Depending on your island’s unique layout, you can find this special Pier on either the bottom left or bottom right of your island. You’ll need to be looking out for fish here to catch any of the Pier exclusive fish like Giant Trevally and Mahi-Mahi.

However, you can only find fish spawns there ever so often by random chance, which can make for trouble if you’re trying to efficiently catch a certain fish before the month ends! This is even more problematic if the fish is quite rare

Luckily, there’s a simple solution to this problem — just use Fish Bait! We recommend stockpiling a couple stacks of 10 Fish Bait, heading to the end of your Pier, and repeatedly using the bait to spawn new fish until you catch the one you’re seeking.

By doing using Fish Bait, you’ll ensure that you don’t waste time walking back and forth from the Pier hoping for a new fish spawn. Both Tuna and Blue Marlin fish have an extra large shadow size, so you should be able to spot when you successfully spawn one with bait!

To craft Fish Bait, you’ll need to dig up Manila Clams with your shovel in spots where you see suspicious water activity on your beach. Each Manila Clam you find can be directly crafted into one Fish Bait item at any workbench and the recipe is automatically learned.

Stay tuned to Animal Crossing World for everything on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, including our extensive Guides section here. Our most popular pages include April Update, May Day Event, Sanrio Villagers & Items, Sanrio Amiibo Cards, Nook Points, Build-A-Bear, Cherry Blossom Recipes, Super Mario Items, Redd Art, and Sea Creatures.